SHD Composites backs Team BRIT disabled racing driver

Sleaford, U.K.-based manufacturing firm SHD Composite Materials Ltd. (SHD Composites) has backed a disabled driver from Southampton as he follows his racing dreams with a history-making team.

Forty-one-year-old Paul Fullick is a driver for Team BRIT, a competitive team of all-disabled racing drivers, which aims to become the first all-disabled team to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. Team BRIT made history in 2022 with two of its drivers becoming what is said to be the first disabled pairing to win a national racing championship. It is fielding 10 drivers in four cars across four championships in 2023.

“It is fantastic to be supporting Paul and Team BRIT,” Helen Doughty, director of SHD Composite Materials Ltd., says. “Paul’s attitude and achievements are inspirational and everyone at SHD is excited to be part of his team.”

SHD Composites, headquartered in Sleaford, with manufacturing facilities in Slovenia and the U.S., manufactures and develops advanced composite prepreg materials, which enable weight reduction, increased strength and enhanced speed in race cars like those driven by Fullick and his team. Not just defined by the motorsport industry, the benefits of prepreg are used in a range of applications from sport and leisure, to automotive, aerospace and marine.

SHD Composites has pledged its support of Fullick throughout the 2023 racing season, having started supporting the team back in 2019 when sponsoring former driver Luke Pound.

Fullick uses the team’s hand control technology to race. He was involved in a motorbike accident in 2021, which resulted in the lower part of his leg being amputated. A lifelong fan of moving fast, he was soon back on his motorbike, and just a few short weeks after leaving hospital, was trying out for the team at its base in Dunsfold, Surrey.

Fullick began racing for Team BRIT in 2022, competing alongside Tyrone Mathurin in the Britcar Trophy Championship. This year, the pair return to the series, moving up a level by driving the BMW M240i. The first race of the season took place at Silverstone on March 26^th, and saw Fullick and Mathurin make a great start to the year, holding P3 for much of the first race. Unfortunately, a clipped curb meant they moved back down the grid to finish 9th overall.

“I’m grateful to all at SHD for their backing and belief this year,” Fullick notes. “It takes a real family of supporters to get us to the track throughout the year, and to help us with our goals to make motorsport accessible for all. It’s a massive year for me and for the whole team. Tee and I are stepping up to a more powerful car and we know how competitive we’ll be. We hope that other disabled drivers will see what we’re achieving and believe that nothing is out of reach.”